Lightning

Hello everyone !!!!

Anyone how is interesting in how to photograph lightning check out this website that can help
http://www.lightningphotography.com/tips.html

WOW is all I can say!

Although these photo's were not taken by a photosoc member I though I just had to share them with everyone as they are amazing. They were taken by Sally Munro in Cape Town early this morning on her way into work.

Assegaai Trails

From beach to bush. Photosoc took a trip inland this weekend to Assegaai Trails, about half an hour from Grahamstown. The wind was determined to blow us off our feet and the cold wanted to see our bones turn to ice but this didnt stop us from having an awesome time- as usual. Our lack of cell phone signal, and electricity (and the salad bowl) made for a very relaxing weekend which took us back to natures roots.

This trip took us to Rock Bottom (as Razvan's Picture shows us) which is a gorgeous rustic little camp. Bunk beds with two shade cloth walls and a tin roof over our heads made a surprisingly comfortable place to sleep and the well made fire was more than welcome.

Assegaai has plenty of walking trails to follow and one can either climb up to the top of the cliff face or stay down in the valley making friends with the spiders.

Aloes and cactii made for great silhouettes and close up shots and also made spotting these Golden Orb-web spiders extremely difficult.

At night we huddled around the fire or played/ blindly made our way through Poker. The blurred photos are caused by the low light conditions and not alcohol.... It is best to have a tripod to steady your camera in very low light or else any camera shake will cause your picture to blur.

Razvan took a liking to the ducks and seemed quite talented at catching the poor things.

All-in-all we had a really good time. Thanks to everyone who came along :)

Assegaai Photo's from Razvan

As some of you might know Photosoc took a group to Assegaai this last weekend, and they had a fabulous time! Thanks to Razvan for sending us some of his photo's to share.
More photo's and news from Assegaai to come......

Kleinemonde Day-Trip

Photosoc's day trip to Kleinemonde was gorgeous to say the least. I am almost tempted to say I found it more beautiful than Hogsback- if thats even possible...was great to see a couple of new faces joining us on the trip as well. We were able to take some amazing pictures before the sun got swallowed by cloud. Definately worth the very early morning wake up calls.

I quite liked the way that by simply making some minor colour adjustments on photoshop, you can get quite interesting differences between the photos. Although not a drastic change, when you look at the two photos together it makes quite a nice pair.

As you may have seen from my other blog, I love patterns in nature. The ripples on this sand caught my attention By photographing them so that they 'run into' the photo, it draws your attention towards the focus of the picture because your eye naturally follows the line created. You can also create this effect with roads or rivers. It makes for a deeper photo.

I just loved the almost perfect symmetry of this plant. The 'macro' function (usually a little picture of a flower) on your camera will become your best friend if you learn how to use it well. This shot was done by playing with the aperture (depth of field) but the same could have been achieved with macro.



Sadly, a storm started to blow in, forcing us to leave. But all-in-all, it was a fantastic trip.

Razvan Sandru's Storm Photo

Thanks to Razvan for sharing his photo's from Kleinemonde with us. I am still busy looking at his others and waiting for ones from the other members who came with. But I just had to share this one with everyone in the meantime as I really like it!

Great job Razvan!

Kleinemonde Beach Trip

Photosoc hit the beach this weekend with our day trip to Kleinemonde (which is near Port Alfred). Thankfully the weather stayed sunny long enough for us to get some photos before the drizzle came. But as you will see from Razvan's photo (in the next post) the turning weather can be a great focus and change the mood of your photo completely.
One of the things that there is to see at Kleinemonde is the Three Sisters which are three huge rock outcrops that go into the sea. The above photo is of the first sister and if you look carefully you might be able to see the fisherman near the edge.

Inside the second sister years of beachcomers have left their mark.

If you couldn't see the fisherman in the first photo, here he is closer up. I was attempting to get a photo just as the waves crashed against the sister. This is the best shot I could get without either get closer or a better zoom.

Seaweed growing on the rocks can be a focus especially if it has colour on it's side, which is what drew me to take this shot. The green is just so vibrant!

I loved the idea of the stick with its hole and the shadow it created. Might even look better in black and white. Simple and alone.....

Well those are some of the shots I took. Now I know that the rest of you that came with took some wicked shots so please do email them to me so I can put them on the blog for everyone to see! Thanks

More meeting and greeting

Meet and Greet

Hello Everyone!

I hope that you are all having a fantastic Thursday!!! Thanks to all the people who made it to the Meet and Greet that was held on Wednesday last week. You guys are awesome!
I have to apologise for taking so long to put the photos up.

I hope that those of you that are coming on the beach trip are excited! I will be seeing you bright and early on Saturday......well early at least :)